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THOMAS’S RESTING PLACE
★ ★ ★
Greenhill Cemetery
Col. William Holland Thomas (Feb-ruary
5, 1805–May 10, 1893) is among
the Confederate officers and soldiers
buried here in Greenhill Cemetery.
His grave is located about thirty
yards in front of you on the right.
Thomas, who began trading
with the Cherokee when he was six-teen,
was the first and only white
man to serve as a Cherokee chief and
an influential figure in antebellum
western North Carolina. He repre-sented
the Cherokee in the state
capital and in Washington, D.C., to
help establish the Qualla Boundary
(the reservation for the Eastern
Band of Cherokee). He organized
Thomas’s Legion of Cherokee Indi-ans
and Mountaineers in Knoxville,
Tennessee, for the Confederacy on
September 27, 1862. The people of
this area were sometimes referred
to as highlanders, and local resi-dents
called Thomas’s unit the
“Highland Rangers.” Thomas even-tually
recruited more than 2,000
officers and men, including two
companies composed of 400 Chero-kee.
The unit fought in Tennessee,
Kentucky, and Virginia and largely
prevented the Federal occupation of
western North Carolina. Part of the
Legion served in the final engage-ment
of the war in North Carolina
at Waynesville on May 6–7. Thomas
surrendered the Legion to Union
Col. William C. Bartlett on May 9.
The officers in Thomas’s
Legion from this area included Col.
William Stringfield, Col. James
Robert Love II, Lt. Col. William C.
Walker, and Capt. John T. Levi.
Stringfield is buried here in Green-hill
Cemetery.
William H. Thomas
Courtesy North Carolina Office of Archives and History
Capt. Alden Howell (February 18, 1841–
March 19, 1947), a Haywood County native,
is buried in Greenhill Cemetery. At the time
of his death, there were 110 living Confeder-ate
veterans, but Howell was the last remain-ing
Confederate officer. He enlisted in 1861
and served four years in the 16th North
Carolina Infantry, Company B, rising to the
rank of captain. After the war, Howell
became a prominent Waynesville banker and
landowner. Time magazine published his
obituary on March 31, 1947: “Died. Captain
Alden G. Howell, 106, who rode to war 86
years ago, saw Stonewall Jackson shot, lived
to be the last surviving Confederate officer,
oldest Mason in the U.S.; in Los Angeles.”
Alden Howell
Courtesy Mary E. Underwood,
Faith of Our Fathers–Living Still
Cherokee veterans of Thomas’s Legion at the
1903 Confederate Reunion in New Orleans.
Courtesy The Mountaineer

THOMAS’S RESTING PLACE
★ ★ ★
Greenhill Cemetery
Col. William Holland Thomas (Feb-ruary
5, 1805–May 10, 1893) is among
the Confederate officers and soldiers
buried here in Greenhill Cemetery.
His grave is located about thirty
yards in front of you on the right.
Thomas, who began trading
with the Cherokee when he was six-teen,
was the first and only white
man to serve as a Cherokee chief and
an influential figure in antebellum
western North Carolina. He repre-sented
the Cherokee in the state
capital and in Washington, D.C., to
help establish the Qualla Boundary
(the reservation for the Eastern
Band of Cherokee). He organized
Thomas’s Legion of Cherokee Indi-ans
and Mountaineers in Knoxville,
Tennessee, for the Confederacy on
September 27, 1862. The people of
this area were sometimes referred
to as highlanders, and local resi-dents
called Thomas’s unit the
“Highland Rangers.” Thomas even-tually
recruited more than 2,000
officers and men, including two
companies composed of 400 Chero-kee.
The unit fought in Tennessee,
Kentucky, and Virginia and largely
prevented the Federal occupation of
western North Carolina. Part of the
Legion served in the final engage-ment
of the war in North Carolina
at Waynesville on May 6–7. Thomas
surrendered the Legion to Union
Col. William C. Bartlett on May 9.
The officers in Thomas’s
Legion from this area included Col.
William Stringfield, Col. James
Robert Love II, Lt. Col. William C.
Walker, and Capt. John T. Levi.
Stringfield is buried here in Green-hill
Cemetery.
William H. Thomas
Courtesy North Carolina Office of Archives and History
Capt. Alden Howell (February 18, 1841–
March 19, 1947), a Haywood County native,
is buried in Greenhill Cemetery. At the time
of his death, there were 110 living Confeder-ate
veterans, but Howell was the last remain-ing
Confederate officer. He enlisted in 1861
and served four years in the 16th North
Carolina Infantry, Company B, rising to the
rank of captain. After the war, Howell
became a prominent Waynesville banker and
landowner. Time magazine published his
obituary on March 31, 1947: “Died. Captain
Alden G. Howell, 106, who rode to war 86
years ago, saw Stonewall Jackson shot, lived
to be the last surviving Confederate officer,
oldest Mason in the U.S.; in Los Angeles.”
Alden Howell
Courtesy Mary E. Underwood,
Faith of Our Fathers–Living Still
Cherokee veterans of Thomas’s Legion at the
1903 Confederate Reunion in New Orleans.
Courtesy The Mountaineer

THOMAS’S RESTING PLACE
★ ★ ★
Greenhill Cemetery
Col. William Holland Thomas (Feb-ruary
5, 1805–May 10, 1893) is among
the Confederate officers and soldiers
buried here in Greenhill Cemetery.
His grave is located about thirty
yards in front of you on the right.
Thomas, who began trading
with the Cherokee when he was six-teen,
was the first and only white
man to serve as a Cherokee chief and
an influential figure in antebellum
western North Carolina. He repre-sented
the Cherokee in the state
capital and in Washington, D.C., to
help establish the Qualla Boundary
(the reservation for the Eastern
Band of Cherokee). He organized
Thomas’s Legion of Cherokee Indi-ans
and Mountaineers in Knoxville,
Tennessee, for the Confederacy on
September 27, 1862. The people of
this area were sometimes referred
to as highlanders, and local resi-dents
called Thomas’s unit the
“Highland Rangers.” Thomas even-tually
recruited more than 2,000
officers and men, including two
companies composed of 400 Chero-kee.
The unit fought in Tennessee,
Kentucky, and Virginia and largely
prevented the Federal occupation of
western North Carolina. Part of the
Legion served in the final engage-ment
of the war in North Carolina
at Waynesville on May 6–7. Thomas
surrendered the Legion to Union
Col. William C. Bartlett on May 9.
The officers in Thomas’s
Legion from this area included Col.
William Stringfield, Col. James
Robert Love II, Lt. Col. William C.
Walker, and Capt. John T. Levi.
Stringfield is buried here in Green-hill
Cemetery.
William H. Thomas
Courtesy North Carolina Office of Archives and History
Capt. Alden Howell (February 18, 1841–
March 19, 1947), a Haywood County native,
is buried in Greenhill Cemetery. At the time
of his death, there were 110 living Confeder-ate
veterans, but Howell was the last remain-ing
Confederate officer. He enlisted in 1861
and served four years in the 16th North
Carolina Infantry, Company B, rising to the
rank of captain. After the war, Howell
became a prominent Waynesville banker and
landowner. Time magazine published his
obituary on March 31, 1947: “Died. Captain
Alden G. Howell, 106, who rode to war 86
years ago, saw Stonewall Jackson shot, lived
to be the last surviving Confederate officer,
oldest Mason in the U.S.; in Los Angeles.”
Alden Howell
Courtesy Mary E. Underwood,
Faith of Our Fathers–Living Still
Cherokee veterans of Thomas’s Legion at the
1903 Confederate Reunion in New Orleans.
Courtesy The Mountaineer